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American Morning
Islamic Center Imam Speaks; Indonesian President Urges Obama to Stop Koran Burning; Democrats in a Ditch; Pleading for Pakistan; The Humanitarian "A-Team"
Aired September 09, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks for being with us. It's Thursday, September 9th on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us today. A lot to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the developer of the Islamic center and mosque being built near New York's Ground Zero, breaking his silence to Soledad O'Brien telling CNN that the mosque must stay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, FOUNDER, THE CORDOBA INITIATIVE: If we move from that location, the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discourse. The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: It's a big newsmaker interview. Soledad O'Brien joins us with the explosive exclusive just ahead.
CHETRY: Extreme weather as well today -- floods, fires, tornadoes. We're getting the latest on a state of emergency issued in Texas after tornadoes tear across parts of Dallas. Also, there's a new storm slowly creeping towards us right now as well. Rob is going to break it down for us.
ROBERTS: And President Obama pushing new ideas for economic growth and slamming Republicans for putting up roadblocks. But will the economy be the Democrats' downfall in November? Our Jim Acosta is following that, and he's live in Washington just ahead.
CHETRY: The amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation. Head to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: We begin this Thursday morning with the CNN exclusive that the world was waiting to see and is now reacting to Soledad O'Brien's riveting one-on-one with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
CHETRY: Abdul Rauf is the developer, the driving force behind the Islamic center and mosque that's being built near Ground Zero in Manhattan. The imam has not talked about this until now, telling CNN that he regrets the project has caused so much pain and that it may be dangerous to turn back now.
ROBERTS: Soledad O'Brien was up late last night. She's up early again this morning.
You've met the imam before. You've spoken with him.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Interviewed him several times on the show, yes.
ROBERTS: Your impressions with him last night after coming back from his European trip and what he had to say.
O'BRIEN: You know, I think this is a person who's well known for being a moderate. You know, in the Muslim world, there are many people who find that his moderate position, the fact that he supports America so much is a problem with them. So, I mean, he sort of navigates this tricky middle path. And I think he also has really dedicated his life to finding peace and building bridges and talking about tolerance. Those things are all true.
But in this particular case, they've sort of gotten themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. He talked about how the pain that they've caused was, they're really blindsided by it. They had no idea that the controversy would come out of their proposed project and really framed all of this now where we are today, as a national security issue. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, FOUNDER, THE CORDOBA INITIATIVE: Our national security now, it hinges on how we negotiate this, how we speak about it, and what we do. It is important for us now to raise the bar on our conversation --
O'BRIEN: What's at risk, when you say national security?
RAUF: As I mentioned, because if we move, that means the radicals have shaped the discourse. The radicals will shift the discourse on both sides. And those of us who are moderates on both sides -- you see, Soledad, the battlefront is not between Muslims and non-Muslims. The real battlefront is between moderates on all sides of all the faith traditions and the radicals on all sides. The radicals actually feed off of each other. And in some kind of existential, we need each other. And the more that the radicals are able to control the discourse on one side, it strengthens the radicals on the other side and vice versa. And we have -- we have to turn this around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Anyway, I asked the leader about 71 percent of the country thinks that while there is a constitutional right to build the facility wherever they want, at the same time, you know, the question is the wisdom of it. And that's sort of where this hinges. Well, he talks about radicals on both sides, and I think we've certainly seen that.
CHETRY: We heard the president talk about the right to do it versus the wisdom of doing it. But he seemed to indicate that even moving the location, let's say 10 blocks, half a mile, would be enough to inflame radicals overseas. I think people who oppose this in the first place would say, doesn't that just give fodder to the argument that they're not going to be happy no matter what. That they're --
O'BRIEN: No. I don't know that there's sort of a logistical move it here and we'll be fine, and move it there and it won't be fine. It's more at any time you're trying to negotiate and navigate something to save face. And not the face for this particular organization, I don't think that's the face he's talking about. He's talking about how is the symbol to the Muslim world not -- well, we don't. In America, we don't tolerate you. That's what he's trying to navigate that the message to the greater Muslim world where there are extremists who will take issues and whip people there into a frenzy, use it as a moment to get people to sort of join the ranks of extremists. He says that's what he's worried about.
So I think it's more of how do we find a middle way that allows the people who are clearly in pain, not the extremists on one side or another, but people who clearly think this is a bad decision. And how do you find something that deals with the sensitivity of what they're worried about and also allows the message not to be America hates Muslims. America is at war with Islam. How do you do that?
And it's less about well, move it to this location, it will be fine. It's more of how do we navigate that. Then he clearly said, what would you do? What would you do?
And I think he was genuinely sort of saying I'm willing to take, you know, advice on how we get out of this. But you have to understand that it's not an empty threat to say that there will be some kind of impact in the Muslim world if the thing is shut down. And, you know, and they say, listen, it's not going to happen and it's been shut down, that there will be an impact. I think he's saying clearly this is what he specializes in. There will be an impact in the Muslim world. It's not an empty threat. And it's not a threat that he's making. It's a threat -- an analysis of the situation --
CHETRY: What about the difference of it being built, and everybody being OK with that but it being built a little further away out of respect for the families of 9/11?
O'BRIEN: Yes, I think he's open to that. I think he's open. What he said last night, I'm open to everything. What's your idea? You know, how it's done is much more important than the actual location.
ROBERTS: Right. I thought it was interesting when you pressed him on it repeatedly, he said, if I'd known the controversy it was going to create, I wouldn't have done it in the first place.
O'BRIEN: They had no idea. Blindsided -- you know, they've said a couple of times, blindsided by the fallout. And I think that that's true. I think that they had literally no idea. CHETRY: Let's listen to a little bit of that exchange as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, FOUNDER, THE CORDOBA INITIATIVE: If I knew that this would happen, this would cause this kind of pain, I wouldn't have done it. My life has been devoted to peacemaking, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: There are so many people who say, if you're saying it was a mistake, then why can't you get out of it and not do it?
RAUF: Because we have to now make sure that whatever we do actually results in greater peace, than in greater conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: You know, he's a peacemaker, and he's got a long track record as a moderate peacemaker. They're in a position that's very awkward. But the way to get out of it is not just to yank it.
CHETRY: Right.
O'BRIEN: They're just saying there are implications to the globe.
CHETRY: Does he ultimately believe it's going to happen?
O'BRIEN: You know, he said, the center will happen. Left it very open where it will be. The center will happen. So, take that for what it's worth. Where it will I guess we'll be continuing to discuss that.
ROBERTS: Did he find the problem of getting people to build it though because trade unions are --
O'BRIEN: Oh, I don't think so. You know, New York.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, anyway, it was a great interview.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Great that you had the opportunity to sit down and talk to him for that long and get him to, you know, address a lot of these issues.
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. It was -- I think it's one of those. There's been a lot of shouting on both sides and it's nice to sort of have a conversation about it.
CHETRY: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: A national conversation.
ROBERTS: And a good one it was. Well done.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Thanks a lot. Appreciate that.
CHETRY: See you in the next hour. Thanks, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, breaking news.
ROBERTS: And we're following breaking news right now. The president of Indonesia writing a letter to President Obama urging him to step in and stop the planned burning of Korans at a Florida church on Saturday, nine years after the September 11th terror attacks. And now Pakistan's government also wants the planned burning stopped, calling it, quote, "a crime against humanity."
CNN's Ed Henry is working on reaction from the White House this morning. As soon as he gets it, we'll bring that to you. But Pastor Terry Jones of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center says he's not convinced that backing down is the right thing to do.
CHETRY: The Vatican is also weighing in this morning on the Koran burning controversy. The Catholic Church calling Pastor Jones' plan outrageous and grave, recommending reflection as a better way to commemorate 9/11. Today, a large Islamic group will announce an initiative to distribute 200,000 copies of the Koran to replace the 200 copies that Pastor Jones plans to burn.
At 8:10 Eastern, coming up in two hours, we're going to be joined by Reverend Larry Reimer. He is the minister of the United Church of Gainesville. He's trying get Reverend Jones to call off the Koran burning. We're going to talk to him about whether or not he thinks he'll have an impact on the decision.
ROBERTS: Well, we've got extreme weather to look at now, what's left of tropical storm Hermine wreaking havoc across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Look at this. Four funnel clouds touched down in Dallas, came out of nowhere. A camera caught one of them forming, hitting the ground, tearing apart a city block, leaving behind a cloud of debris. And this was the close result. One truck driver was injured when the twister picked up his rig and slammed it into a warehouse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I stopped to see if there was anybody hurt. And I got over there, was pinned inside that truck. And then some other people pulled the door open to get him out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing? You're all right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That storm almost dumped a foot of rain in parts of Texas. Choppers called in to save people that were trapped on their rooftops for hours. Rescue teams and boats also help people trapped in neck- deep water in their cars. The search continues this morning for one driver in the Austin area whose car was swept away. ROBERTS: Meantime, in Colorado, things just continue to get worse. Crews are fighting a wildfire. They're looking for eight missing people now. Some who may not have followed orders to evacuate in front of the approaching flames. Firefighters say they still don't have control of this blaze. It's 6,000 acres now. It's destroyed 139 buildings, 3,500 people in total were ordered to get out. And this, they say, could be the most destructive fire in the state's history.
CHETRY: Wow, a lot going on weather wise. Let's check in with Rob Marciano right now following all of this extreme weather for us from the weather center in Atlanta this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. We'll start off with what's going on there in Colorado. In the intermountain west, you have another windy day with another little short wave, another impulse rolling across the northern tier, and that will start some winds. And the other issue, of course, is the heavy rain stirred up by the tropical storm and what's left over from Hermine.
You mentioned the rainfall tallies. Here are some of the official ones. Georgetown, Texas, 15 inches. Cedar Park, over a foot. Anderson Mill over a foot as well. And while most of that rain is headed, moved off towards the north, thankfully in places like Oklahoma, Arkansas and in through parts of Missouri. That's where the flood watches and warnings are posted for today and maybe another two to four inches of rainfall.
We've got a total of eight reports of tornadoes yesterday. A number of them across Dallas county. So the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, anytime you get tornado activity in a highly populated metropolitan area like that, it's certainly a scary thing. I think we got off relatively unscathed. It could have been a lot worse considering all the activity that was happening late yesterday afternoon.
I'll talk more about that. And Igor out there in the Atlantic, another tropical storm.
CHETRY: First Hermine, now Igor. I love the names.
MARCIANO: It's been entertaining so far. Hopefully, we'll keep this one out to sea.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Well, coming up, President Obama is pushing a new plan to get the economy rolling while admitting that his party could pay a hefty price for the trouble that Americans have seen. Jim Acosta is following that. We're going to get his live report just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: All right. It's getting exciting because only 54 days and counting now until the midterm elections. And here it is. This is where you get all the information, CNN.com, political ticker.
And crossing the ticker now, he passed a bid for the Arizona state house. Now, Joe Arpaio, America's toughest sheriff, may have his sights set on the White House. This weekend, Arpaio heads to the presidential proven ground of New Hampshire for a speech to the state's largest Republican organization. His adviser says Arpaio gets thousands of messages each and every week, urging him to run for president.
He's one of the Democrats' top guns when it comes to campaigning. Former President Bill Clinton is going to travel to Ohio next week to stump for the state's governor, Ted Strickland. And if Strickland needs all the help he can get, the latest polls show the incumbent trailing his Republican opponent, former Congressman John Kasich by double digits.
And with the GOP poised, according to many analysts, to make big gains in November, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is urging fellow Republicans to stay on message and avoid premature celebrations. It's not over till it's over. Barbour's a potential candidate for president in 2012. He says right now he's giving all his attention to getting Republican governors elected.
And for the most political news, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, go to CNN Politics. Go to the Political Ticker at CNN.com.
Kiran, it's getting exciting.
CHETRY: It sure -
ROBERTS: Write it up (ph).
CHETRY: It sure is. And President Obama is also talking about it right now. He was on the campaign trails we've been talking about in Iowa. Full campaign style. But the president's admitting in an ABC News interview that for new ideas for jump-starting the economy, it may be too little, too late for his party in the midterms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If the election is a referendum on are people satisfied about the economy as it currently is, then we're not going to do well, because I think everybody feels like this economy needs to do better than it's been doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: CNN's Jim Acosta has more on the Democratic dilemma, so to speak. He's live in Washington for us this morning.
You know, we talk a lot about this, Jim. The president candidly saying it might not be enough at this time. Are they fully prepared that there's a pretty good chance they're going to lose the House?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're in a tough spot, no question about it. There's still time left, but not much time. And the president, as you know, Kiran, has come out with what's essentially a second stimulus this week, but you wouldn't find many folks over at the White House calling it that. That's because the first one, known as the Recovery Act, didn't turn out to be very popular.
And you might remember, during the end of the '08 campaign, President Obama had this line that John McCain was running out of ideas as he's running out of time. That might sound pretty familiar right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): It's one of President Obama's favorite one- liners when it comes to the economy.
OBAMA: Do we return to the same failed policies that ran our economy into a ditch, or do we keep moving forward with policies that are slowly pulling us out?
ACOSTA: Problem for Democrats is that the country is still stuck in that ditch.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who's locked in a tight battle for re-election, acknowledged to me in a recent interview, he, too, is disappointed in the recovery.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: We've done OK, but not well enough. We've - we've gotten back 3.5 million of the jobs we've lost. We have a long ways to go to catch up.
ACOSTA: Even though his home state of Nevada holds the dual distinction of having the nation's highest unemployment and foreclosure rates, he doesn't think the voters should blame him.
ACOSTA (on camera): Why should voters send you back to Washington, given that record?
REID: Well, I think it's pretty clear to them that I didn't cause the problems.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Just a few feet away from Reid's campaign event, we found a group of homeless people camping out. That's where we met Richard.
ACOSTA (on camera): Any message that you would give to the, you know, people who are running for office these days and what they should do for folks who are in your predicament?
"RICHARD", HOMELESS: Just if you guys get out there, and if you hear me, if you guys can help out the homeless out here. We're -- we want help, and we need it.
ACOSTA: Times are tough.
"RICHARD": Yes, it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suzanne Kosmas has different priorities. SUZANNE KOSMAS (D), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, FLORIDA: People in this district are mad, and I'm mad too.
ACOSTA (voice-over): For Democrats these days, running for re- election means running for your political life. In their campaign ads, some in the party are not just saying they're mad.
REP. WALT MINNICK (D), IDAHO: I've had to say no far more than I said yes.
ACOSTA: Other Democrats are running against the president's agenda, as the Republican National Committee points out in its own video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why I voted against the $3 trillion budget.
ACOSTA: That may explain why even the president is starting to say he doesn't have all the answers.
OBAMA: Not everything we've done over the last two years has worked as quickly as we had hoped.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And that kind of candor might go a long way.
The president would like to make the next two months not about how the economy is doing, but how things might be different if the Republicans take back the Congress. From the fate of the Bush tax cuts to new stimulus measures, the president wants a lively debate over who's got the best ideas for getting out of that ditch - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll have to see what happens. It's not over till it's over, though. We've still got -
ACOSTA: It ain't over till it's over.
CHETRY: -- more than 50 days.
Jim Acosta for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: And as you might expect, the Election Express is out rolling across the country. Coming up at 7:20 Eastern, about an hour from now, T.J. Holmes is on board. He's talking to voters in Indianapolis this morning about their midterm mind-set.
CHETRY: Airlines are offering a few perks for passengers these days, maybe a small bag of peanuts, if you're lucky. But there's one upscale carrier that's so sure you'll love flying with them that they're willing to bet a trip to France on it.
We'll explain the details coming up.
Twenty minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Long distance relationships are becoming more common. Chock it up to easy access to air travel, an economy that's forcing people to hang on to their current job instead of moving closer to find another one to be closer to a significant other.
Recent study found that half of all college students are now in long- distance relationships. Up to 75 percent of them will be, at some point, and while they do work, they do tend to get old after a little while, all that traveling.
CHETRY: Oh, yes. Burning up the Amtrak train back and forth in college, and it fizzled out in the end.
Well, forget about the friendly skies. How about flying for free? Luxury carrier Open Sky says that you don't have to pay if you aren't satisfied with the service in its business class flight to Paris.
The British-owned airways carrier has fares that start around $1,500. An important note, this offer is only good until the end of November. Let's see how people pretend they're not satisfied to get another free flight.
ROBERTS: There's got to be some fine print in there somewhere that we're not seeing.
CHETRY: Exactly.
Well, she's known around the world for both her big screen roles but also her compassion for people in need. Just ahead, Angelina Jolie talks to us about the role that she's taking on in Pakistan in the wake of the flooding, how she's hoping to help the millions that are struggling to survive.
It's 25 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour.
Angelina Jolie is in Pakistan, trying to draw attention to the 21 million people there affected by July's deadly flooding. The actress made a desperate plea for the victims when she spoke with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who just returned from a trip to the flood zones that he made. Jolie talked about her role in Pakistan as the U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and as a mother.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Did you have specific responsibilities as a goodwill ambassador, certain things that you must accomplish on the ground there, or how - how does that work for you?
ANGELINA JOLIE, GOODWILL AMBASSADOR, UNHCR: It's different. It's developed over the years. And I - when I first came out, it was kind of I would just quietly go into the field and - and get an education. I just wanted to not speak to the press very much and get an education and spend time with people, which is - which is kind of the nicest thing to be able to get to know the - the refugees and the displaced families.
And, since then, it's developed a little more. I have more responsibility to - to speak out publicly and to meet with government officials and ministers and speak some about specifics of the right to return and, you know, discourage forced returns, and - and so on and so forth. So it's become a little - a little more political.
GUPTA: When you go back home and - and you're - you're in the states and you're trying to tell your friends about this, do people want to talk to you about what you've seen here in Pakistan? I find that sometimes it's hard, because unless you've been on the ground it's tough to - to convey.
Do you - do you spend a lot of time talking about this with your friends and your family when you get home?
JOLIE: I'll talk to my family. I'll talk to Brad. He's - he's very - you know, he wants to know as much as he can about these issues and every trip (ph). And - and he's been here as well. He came here with me after the earthquake.
But - I don't know. I don't have a lot of friends I talk to. He's - he's really the only person I talk to.
But I'll tell my children - I told my children why I was going and I explain to them. They've seen the news and I explained to them that there - why I was packing flashlights and food. And - and, you know, they helped - they helped me pack some things.
So I think it also - it helps them to be better people to understand a little bit about the world.
GUPTA: I know, you and I, we're communicating when I was over there, and you said you were watching the reports. It's kind of funny, my wife wouldn't let my kids sometimes watch because my kids are young and she - she thinks it's quite sad and it's tough.
How about your kids? I mean, do you - do you encourage them to watch what's happening here? Do you encourage them to talk about it?
JOLIE: I do. It depends. I have children of all different ages, so the older ones are - are, you know, able to watch more. It depends on - on what the reports are.
Sometimes - you know, a lot of times the reports are repeated, so you - you can watch it and then have them watch it when you - when you know it's OK.
But - but, no, I think it's important if we can. Especially, my children are from a lot of these countries, so - so I want them to understand. I want Zahara to understand what's happening in Africa, and the boys can understand, you know, what's happening if there's something current in their countries. And - and for all of them to know about each other's countries as well, and just the world in general.
So I do try to - to teach them as much as I can.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Sanjay Gupta together with Angelina Jolie.
Coming up a little bit later on this morning, we're going to take you live to Islamabad. Our newest correspondent, Kaj Larser, follows a Rapid Response Team into some of the most dangerous and hard-to-reach areas of Pakistan. Veterans who are taking on the most risky life- saving missions and getting it done with half the people in half the time, as you might imagine, ex-military could.
CHETRY: That's amazing. We look forward to checking in with Kaj.
Meanwhile, it's half past the hour. We're checking our top stories. A developer of the Islamic center and mosque that's being built near Ground Zero speaking exclusively to CNN, talking with Soledad O'Brien last night on "LARRY KING LIVE." Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf says that the Islamic center must stay where it is, calling it a matter of national security. He also claims that he never would have gone forward with the idea if he knew how much pain it would cause.
ROBERTS: Extreme weather, what's left of Tropical Storm Hermine breaking up over Texas, triggering flash floods and four tornadoes that touched down in Dallas. The search continues this morning for one driver in the Austin area whose car was swept away.
Developing overnight: a car bomb exploding in Pakistan, targeting a local leader in the city of Quetta. The blast went off outside the provincial minister's home. It killed two people and wounded three others. But police say the minister himself was not hurt in the attack.
CHETRY: Well, U.N. secretary-general says flooding in Pakistan is the worst natural disaster he's ever seen. Many places have been abandoned by rescue teams because it's simply too remote or it's just simply too dangerous to try to get there.
ROBERTS: And that's where these guys come in, a group of veterans with a special set of skills. They don't ask questions, they don't hesitate, they just go.
Our newest correspondent, Kaj Larsen, followed them on their mission and he joins us live from Islamabad this morning.
And, Kaj, no question, this has been quite a trip so far?
KAJ LARSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you so much, John.
As you know, I've been on the ground here in Pakistan for about the last week, and I was able to embed myself with this very unique humanitarian organization.
So, here's the first part of my journey with them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARSEN: I'm packing for Pakistan.
(voice-over): I'm a member of the charity group Team Rubicon, a group made up of veterans of some of the most elite fighting forces in the world. No longer working for the military, we're now doing something different -- using military training and logistics and technical skills to conduct humanitarian missions in some of the most remote and dangerous countries.
(on camera): About five days ago, I got a call from them. They're sending a team to deploy to Pakistan to assist with the victims of the flooding disaster there.
(voice-over): I headed to the airport to meet up with other Team Rubicon members who had volunteered for the Pakistan operation.
(on camera): Hi.
(voice-over): At the airport were three other teammates, including former Marine William McNulty.
WILLIAM MCNULTY, TEAM RUBICON: I spent eight years in the Marine Corps reserve. I've become an intelligence specialist. It's been our experience that we can respond to national disasters faster than larger NGO. So, basically, we bring the skills that were developed on the battlefield.
LARSEN: Former Iraq vet Matt Pelak told me how this mission differs from what he used to do for the military.
MATT PELAK, TEAM RUBICON: It's good to come to an area like this and not have a gun in my hand, and be able to, you know, actually, just get down and help people and not have people look at you with fear but, you know, with hope.
LARSEN: With the team assembled, first stop, Dubai.
(on camera): I think hour 23 of our journey to Pakistan. In the meantime, some of us are resting.
Just arrived to Islamabad airport, loaded all our gear into the team van and we'll be heading down south to get closer to the affected areas where the aid work is going to begin.
(voice-over): We began the long drive to southern Punjab, a place where international aid is desperately needed for hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis. But the problem is, many western doctors are wary of coming here because of the precarious security situation.
MCNULTY: We, you know, assess the risks involved and mitigate what risk we can. We accept a certain level of risk in line with the mission and then we act.
LARSEN: Concerns about security are constant here. Upon our arrival, there had been three bombs in three days with more than 100 people killed.
(on camera): As we're driving to the areas in the southern Punjab region that are most affected by the floods, there's this long continuous line that's practically a mile long of trucks that are delivering aid to the region. I mean, just the sheer volume is incredible. There must have been 100 trucks just waiting to try and get supplies into the affected areas.
(voice-over): After 8,000 miles and three straight days of traveling, Rubicon finally arrives to a remote village that even a month into the floods is yet to receive medical aid. Undaunted by State Department and military warnings about security, the team begins saving lives.
Dr. Eduardo Dolhun is a member of the team.
DR. EDUARDO DOLHUN, TEAM RUBICON: What we're going to do, this is our de facto triage area right here. We'll write -- diagnose and write the prescriptions.
LARSEN: As the team begins to set up a clinic in the abandoned building, the victims start arriving.
(on camera): Well, what's the issue with this guy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe he's totally floppy, totally unresponsive.
LARSEN: Yes. We're going to bring this baby to see Dr. Dolhun right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby is not able to swallow.
DOLHUN: So, we have a baby that's 10, 11 months old, having diarrhea for four to five days with vomiting. We now have a situation in which she is probably at dehydration to the point where maybe --
LARSEN (voice-over): It is here, despite all the concerns about safety, the Taliban threat, militants and sectarian violence the real threat Team Rubicon finds is that of children and elderly dying of dehydration. It's simple logistics. Lives can be saved if aid can get to it.
For all their skills, it's risking the journey to the victims that may be the team's greatest act on this mission. As baby Ali, just one of 2,000 villagers Team Rubicon will treat this day, fights for survival.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LARSEN: So, John, Kiran, as you know, because of the unique military background of Team Rubicon, we were able to get into the hinterland and be some of the very first to deliver medical aid to this area. And what we saw on the ground was destruction, devastation, desperation by villagers that we were able to treat with medical aid -- were desperate for food, for medicine and perhaps most importantly, for basic sanitary clean water.
So, tomorrow, we're going to be continuing the journey with Team Rubicon, and we're going to get to see the resolution of what happened to little 9-month-old baby Ali.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. No question. Amazing work that you do.
And, Kaj, do us a favor. Standby. We want to take a quick break. Come back and talk to you more right after -- there on the other side.
It's 37 1/2 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: It's 40 minutes past the hour. And welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Just at the other side of the break, we were talking with Kaj Larsen. He's our newest correspondent. He's live in Islamabad, Pakistan, traveling with a group of veterans in the dangerous rescue mission in that country, in the wake of this horrific flooding that we saw last month.
And, Kaj, one of the things you talked about was the elderly and children, and how vulnerable they are, especially when it comes to dehydration and just simply getting their hands on sanitary water.
How is this team able to handle that better?
LARSEN: Well, one of the advantages that the Rubicon Team has had is that they are light weight, they move fast. They actually sort of employ some of the techniques and principles that they used in their military training to have a small footprint and to move quickly, in order to get that aid to the children and the elderly who really desperately need it. And like you said, dehydration is one of the paramount concerns here on the ground.
ROBERTS: Kaj, a couple things I'm interested in. Why were you pretty much the first aid team to get in there? And this idea, too, traveling lighter, faster than most NGOs -- can they bring the same level of assistance that a traditional NGO would?
LARSEN: Well, the reason that we were one the early aid teams get here is because we were able to, again, move fast and penetrate into some of the affected areas. Now, what's important to understand about this crisis, is that unlike the earthquake in Haiti which is a quick rupture followed by a massive amount of trauma, Pakistan is a crisis that's unfolding before our eyes in slow motion. So, Rubicon actually didn't make it on the ground until several weeks into the beginning of the floods. But they've been able, like I said, to get very deep into some of the un-penetrated areas and be some of the first Westerners to deliver aid in that area.
It does come at a cost. And like you said, the cost is they can't bring quite as much logistics as large helicopters and things like that.
CHETRY: The other thing, too, is these are former military guys. You know, I mean, Pakistan has a history, of course. I mean, we're fighting wars in Iraq. We're fighting wars in Afghanistan.
But I imagine that for these people, I mean, this is their life line. How are these guys received as they finally make it to these areas that have seen no aid?
LARSEN: It's a very good question, Kiran. In general, anti- American sentiment is very much on the rise here in Pakistan. But I'm a veteran myself, and the experience that I found when traveling with the other veterans from Team Rubicon was that because they were there on a humanitarian mission, they actually were able to win over many of the people who they were delivering aid to.
And for the Rubicon members, that provides somewhat of an antidote to a lot of the anti-American sentiment that you are seeing on the ground here in Pakistan.
ROBERTS: You know, we've heard, Kaj, threats from the Taliban to be targeting outside aid groups. You can imagine a group of American ex-military go over there -- they might be an attractive target for insurgents and other militants. Does that increase the security problem for you, folks?
LARSEN: Security has been a paramount concern for us. But to be candid, all Americans in this day and age could be potential targets here in Pakistan. So, being an ex-military member really only exacerbates the situation.
In addition, some of the events that are happening around the world, including the controversy out of Florida with the Koran-burning and even the drone attacks in north Waziristan yesterday have made the entire security environment a real issue. Despite that, Rubicon felt that it was important to get to these areas and help people.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. Absolutely. I mean, you just can't get enough aid in there. Kaj Larson for us in Islamabad -- Kaj, thanks so much. Great to see you on the air and we look forward to your other reports.
Kaj, by the way, has posted two blogs on our Web site about his trip to Pakistan. You can check them out at CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: Meantime, it's 44 minutes past the hour. Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, we're going to check in with Rob Marciano. There is a lot going on in terms of extreme weather, from flooding to heavy rains and also, the possibility of tornadoes. He's going to let us know how things are looking today.
ROBERTS: And we're going to take you on a tour of an apartment, listen to this, less than 400 square feet and 20 rooms? Sound impossible? We'll show you how he does -- coming right up.
Forty-five minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Here's a shot from WFA, our affiliate in Dallas, Texas where still dark out there. It's 81 degrees, but boy, did they deal with a day yesterday. A tornado touching down, the remnants of Hermine causing widespread flame (ph). We're dealing with power outages, so a lot going on weather wise for that city.
ROBERTS: Sometimes, those tropical storms can be worse than hurricanes when it comes to dumping the amount of rain. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines and see what's on top for this Thursday, this Friday eve. Rob Marciano is in the weather center. Good morning, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, guys. You're right about that, John, especially in Texas, the tropical storms that roll in there. They have had a history of producing flooding rains, and in this case, not only floods but the tornadoes video, that tornado touching down in and around the Dallas Ft. Worth metropolitan area. Dramatic stuff when you get a twister of any size coming through a highly populated area like this.
Luckily, just some industrial damage there, and some tractor trailer being tossed around just a little bit and one injury. It could have been a whole lot worse, that's for sure. River still in flood stage across much of the I-35 corridor from San Antonio to Dallas. So, we still have flash flood warnings in here. But flash flood warnings have been discontinued because most of the heavy rain has moved off towards the north.
The Eastern Oklahoma into parts of Arkansas and Missouri, 2 to 4 inches of rainfall expected today. That's where the potential for flash flooding will be most prevalent. Unfortunately, red flag warning across the Northwestern Colorado, that includes the boulder area just points northwest where they're battling that fire. So, windy conditions today. Humidities will be relatively low, and winds can gust up to 15 miles an hour.
That's not helping firefighters (INAUDIBLE) to the imagination. Cool front across the northeast. They noticeably cooler for the major cities from D.C. up through Boston, maybe a sprinkle or two, but it will be breezy so that may hold down some of the traffic across the New York metropolitan airports, the same thing in D.C. and Philadelphia.
Memphis and Dallas, maybe seeing a couple of more showers and thunderstorms. And San Francisco and Seattle, low clouds and cool, 30 to 60-minute delays out there. Oh, forgot about this. Here's Igor. Here's Africa. We don't have to deal with Igor for a while, so a 40- mile-an-hour winds at this point. Forecast becomes a hurricane, but two weeks before it even gets close to the U.S. if it makes it that far.
CHETRY: All right. Fingers crossed doesn't do anything, but have to wait and see, Rob. Thanks.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: This morning's top stories just a couple of minutes away, including the imam speaks, the man behind the Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero talks exclusively to CNN why he says it must be built and why our national security, in his opinion, depends on it.
ROBERTS: And most passengers now saying he's no hero. That there wasn't even a scuffle on board. Why former flight attendant, Steven Slater, may be living a lie. Those stories and more coming your way beginning at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty-four minutes past the hour now. You know apartments are small. They're very expensive in Hong Kong, but one Chinese architect turned his shoe box into something with huge possibilities. A slide here, a pole there, and voila, he got a 20- plus room house with his domestic transformer. It may be the wave of the future. Angelie Rowe shows us in today's "Edge of Discovery."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANGELIE ROWE (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hong Kong is among the most densely populated places on earth with 7 million people sharing just 1,100 square kilometers of land. Sure, there are ways to make less look like more. The Hong Kong architect, Gary Chan, has gone one better. So, this is 300 and --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 50 square feet.
ROWE: Square feet, and it turns into how many rooms?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roughly 20.
ROWE: Twenty rooms in that tiny space. How is that possible, you may ask?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me moving from one room to the other in this home, the space change for me.
ROWE: Behold, the kitchen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is it.
ROWE: Nothing goes to waste here. A few more warship (ph) revealed the master bedroom, the office, a laundry area, a bathroom, guest accommodation and more. There's even a mini movie theater. Hong Kong's biggest little home even works as a party pad. Gary once entertained 20 friends here. He admits that when guests want to have private phone conversations, well, they have to do it in the shower. But it seems a small price to pay for all that space.
Angelie Rowe, CNN, Hong Kong
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Pretty cool.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) strategy here in New York City as well.
CHETRY: Oh, yes.
ROBERTS: Apartment maybe a little bit bigger but not too much.
So, thinking about taking the family on a fun little ocean cruise, a little shuffle board on the ledo deck, a little boogie woogie to go with that. Check out this vacation to remember. More than 1,700 passengers onboard the Pacific Sun caught on a violent storm off the coast of New Zealand.
Don't worry, everybody is well over this. This closed circuit video came from 2008. Its only now making its way onto the internet. 20-foot swells, 60-mile-an-hour winds tossing passengers and furniture all about the cabin. Look at the bartender just kind of sitting there saying, yes, this happens.
CHETRY: Yes. Good thing we're nailed down back here. Unbelievable. Yikes. I guess everyone was okay in the end, but man, that video is kind of scary.
ROBERTS: Cruise to remember.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with your top stories. Three minutes to the top of the hour.
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